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Deviating from the norm?

I was reading up on different boxes and hive styles and came across this article.

Basically, the idea is that it doesn't really matter what you use for your bodies/supers as long as the bees have enough space. I don't actually own any bees, I will be waiting for next season, but my friend recently got into it and so I've been looking into getting hives of my own.

It seems that the mediums are favored simply because they're lighter, but it would seem more cost effective to use deeps for supers instead of more medium boxes. I'm just 16, so the weight isn't particularly a problem for me

Re: Deviating from the norm?

Personal opinion only: Whatever you use, use standard sizes. This makes it so much easier to swap frames between hives and nucs between beekeepers. Personally I use all 10-deeps but that is because I've always used all 10-deeps since I started in '91, so that's what feels right to me. I build my own, so using all the same size for brood and supering is more convenient, too. I like that everything is interchangeable and I don't have to go rooting around to make sure I've got matching sizes for what I want to do--I just grab and go, knowing it's all gonna fit.

Re: Deviating from the norm?

Rusty,

Good answer. This was one of the things I had considered also. I do a lot of woodworking, and standardization is hard to come by, so I appreciate it where I can find it. I think that using all the same type of frame would make like easier, the weight of the box notwithstanding.

Re: Deviating from the norm?

A full deep of honey weighs around seventy to ninety pounds. A trick I do when robbing is I load a few empty deeps on the back of the golf cart or truck, and I move individual frames over to it and cover it. That way, I'm not struggling to lift the weight while dealing with robber bees and irritable guard bees, nor trying to break the propolis seal on a hive body that heavy.

Re: Deviating from the norm?

>I'm just 16, so the weight isn't particularly a problem for me

I was a twenty year old carpenter when I started. I bought my chicken feed in 100 pound bags to get the burlap for my smoker. Lifting 90 pound boxes (ten frame deeps) was not a problem. I'm not a carpenter anymore. I sit at a desk all day. I'm not twenty anymore. But those boxes are still here and I had to cut them all down to eight frame mediums so I won't hurt my back so often...

Richard Taylor in The Joys of Beekeeping says:

"...no man's back is unbreakable and even beekeepers grow older. When full, a mere shallow super is heavy, weighing forty pounds or more. Deep supers, when filled, are ponderous beyond practical limit."